This site is administered by both the Affetside Millennium Green Trust and the Affetside Society
Its close proximity to a Roman road (Manchester to Ribchester) has caused many to date
it as Roman in origin, and yet some date it much later. Present thinking considers it a
medieval route marker for Lancashire pilgrims on route to Whalley Abbey. Some see it as
a market cross from Jacobean or Georgian times or it may mark the point of a beacon due
to its dominant position. The theory which considers it as a market cross does not, on the
surface, appear to make much sense as Affetside has had no record of ever having a
market charter (although it is recognised that many markets did exist throughout
Lancashire without a charter ever being granted). Furthermore, as a market it would have
been difficult to access in addition to
being very remote and as such would
have suffered from competition from
adjacent areas with greater populations.
The loss of the cross head is undated and
it has never been proven that it ever had
one. The Cross is a listed grade II
structure. The cross shaft is cut from a
single piece of local gritstone, set into a
plinth of 2 stones on 2 steps. The 1st
step is circular, 2.28m dia, and 0.1 m
high. The second step is 1.6m dia, and
0.25m high. The shaft is of a pillar form with a square base 0.34m wide tapering to a
column 1.43m high. At 1.34m there is a collar surmounted by a bun shaped capital. Cut
into the top is a socket that probably held the cross head or stone ball. There are other
pilgrims crosses in the area, notably Holcombe Moor to the east, and at Bradshaw, (which
has now been removed) and the Pilgrims Cross theory appears to be the most plausible, as
the route east to west was an old pack horse trail and major route for the passage of
goods and people.
Affetside cross still remains a mystery today, although
it is classed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument
(National Monument No. 25721) under the Ancient
Monuments & Archeological Areas Act 1979, it is thought
to date from medieval times, or perhaps much earlier.
A
Affetside cross still remains a mystery today, although
it is classed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument
(National Monument No. 25721) under the Ancient
Monuments & Archeological Areas Act 1979, it is thought
to date from medieval times, or perhaps much earlier.
A
